St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-03-05
AT A MINING CENTER.
Two Events Which Have Created I'm
mense Excitement Among specu-
latOrs at Deadwood,
And the Connection Which the Cashier
of the Merchants National Has
With Them.
How Gen. Sturgis Dropped a Large
Sum of Money Belonging to
His Grandchildren.
A Reporter With a Trunk Full of
Souvenirs of the Big Boom
in Iron Hill.
Special TO the GIL ODE.

Special to the G. ODE.
DEADwooD, OAK, March 4.-The ques-
ton Of absorbing interest now is, can the
new Deadwood Mining Stock exchange
''bull' the market more than the recent
bank failures and the manipulations of
Cashier Fox can depress it? A hopeful
feature for shareholders is that that gentle
man is cut of the market. He certainly
was no mascot at any time His dump of
Iron Hill stock last fall so demoraliZed
everything that it was only few days ago
that stocks began to rally; and just as the
new exchange opened hopefully down went
his banks with about $500, 900 of deposits.
But Fox is no longer factor in speculation
or business. 1t is said that he is as COM
plete wreck, physically, mentally and
morally as the Merchants National is
financially. He stands or sits
A HAGGARD wATCHMAN
over the closed vaults, waiting for the bank
examiner to come from Washington. wait
ing tor his senior and relative, Stebbns. to
come to the rescue. Stebbins has done
nothing except to telegraph mis- Willingness
to put up $4,000 to resume if the public
will Pit up enough more and guarantee
continuous deposits enough and be real good
to the banks, to insure SOlvency and re-
store lost confidence One incident Of many
that are now at last freely talked
of may suffice for illustration: Last
summer when that gallant and
simply-honest old soldier, Gen. Sturgis, was
retired on half pay and left the Fort Meade
command. he placed an order with Fox to
purchase thousand shares of Iron Hill,
the then price being Sc. Fox expressed
doubts as to his ability to obtain the stock
for that price, but promised to do his best.
Weeks elapsed and Fox reported the order
not filed in his letters to Gen. Sturgs, who
had left the hills. Meanwhile the price of
Iron Hill was
STEADILY DECLINING.
1t ran along thus until Gen. Sturgis re-
turned to Deadwood to find Iron Hill down
to near 81. He countermanded his order
and was told by Fox that the stock had been
purchased for his account at So, and the
1000 shares was rendered him. The date
at which the Sc 900 was drawn from Stur-
gis' account in Chicago by Fox showed that
that sum then would have bought two or
three thousand shares. instead OF 1000, in
open market; indeed, circumstances indi-
cate that the transfer of stock was
not made until the minute that Gen.
Surgis appeared to countermand the order.
The matter seems more affecting because
the money was a trust belonging to the
grandchildren of the old soldier, fact that
| am told Fox was appraised of in advance.
In another similar case, that of Mr.. Holden,
the cattle man, restitution was compelled
from Fox; but the veteran was too sensitive
and Inundated to go into court with the
matter. 1t is generally believed now that
Fox's break of the stock market was to stay
the tottering banks, but the manner of his
madness had little method of remedy in it.
There was great boom in mining shares
last spring. Iron Hill, the favorite, went
above 81 and
THE ENTIRE LIST SCARED.
Everybody went long" New compa-
MES multiplied. some of them based on a
prospect hole and stock certificate. Min
ers, merchants, washerwomen, navvies
! took hold; the very editors and EprinterS,
who had struck of certificates at cent
apiece paid dollars for them, a stamp and
signature being added. A local reporter
told me that he had "a trunk full of SOU
yenirs of the BOOM" Then came reac-
ton. Iron Hill went down slowly to So.
Everybody tried to brace the market: to be
bull then was as much patriotic duty as
it was in 1861 to stand by tine Union.
| While everybody else was whistling to
keep his courage up. and urging
| everybody else not to sell, Fox, treasurer
of the from Hill company, appeared on the
steps Of his bank Offering large blocks of
| the stock at So. 1t was useless to boost
when the officers of the company were cut
| ting the legs from under their own prop
| erty. 1t was meat-aX blow through a
| r,fro ,a1 ina {o ho1l n uc
went to the ''demnition bOW-wOWS." Iron
Hill came down by the run to about SO
cents Orders from outside stopped short.
as grandfathers clock; and as for home
| capitalists they were loaded to the guards
| already with stockS-so there was no one
| to unload upon. Shares could not be
| hypothecated for loans. By common con-
| sent and
COMMON NECESSITY.
! forcible collection of debts was suspended
assessments for work on mining properties
were discontinued and sales of stocks de-
| linquent on assessments already levied
| were waived in the case of home delin-
! quents. With foreign shareholders it was
sometimes different. however. | know a
case where all assessment was levied by
the local directors on stock largely held
outside. When certain Of the outside stock
| holders had paid in advance of date of de-
linQuency. another meeting of the resident
directors was held and the assessment was
declared off, but no effort OH the part of
| those who had paid could ever secure re-
| turn of their money; in one case the repu-
| table officers of the company pleaded in
| ability to return an assessment OF $3.50.
Across the romantic canyon that is the
portal to Deadwood might have been writ
1nlln fEof n,,t0 hnr 1nox nc
hope behind" But these camps are nlled
| with men who have considerable money
and more sand" The mines furnish a
constant
SOURCE OF WEALTH
and rally from misfortune comes quickly
Already the effects of the bank failures are
discounted. save by the miners and laborer:
who had $500 in the Central City
branch Men take the matter philosophic
ally and even think charitably of Cashier
Fox. But one can read in the operations
of the exchange the mingled signs O.
pluck, hopefulness and stratened finances
| There is only one side to the speculation a:
yet, and the transactions are small. Every
body is bull" There is absolutely NJ
short interest, and no dealing in futures at all
All day and every day they try to boos
each others stocks, while the crowd o
spectators. each lingering the little bundl
of certificates
NEXT HIS HEART,
anxiously watches the black board. Thu
size of the Offering in each case is CAREFUL.
gagged by the price; 100 or 200 share
of any stock worth over dollar seems II
be the limit OF the game; while stocks tina
are rated at ! or 2 cents are boldly fun!
! out in thousand-share blocks. The veteran
broker of the Hills said to-day: ''ther
is so little money that we have t